1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel compounds, N-[3-(4-methyl-3-cyclohexenyl)butyl]amines. This invention also relates to methods and compositions of matter for controlling or selectively regulating growth of plants.
2. Prior Art
The growth of plants has long been regulated by employing manual or mechanical methods. For instance, gardeners and nursery men "pinch" or prune plants or trees by cutting the tip of the stems to redirect or stimulate the growth of new stems in preference to the growth of the main stem in order to produce fuller and bushier trees and plants with a generally lower profile. More recently this manual or mechanical step has been followed by a second step, the application of a chemical contact agent to control so-called suckers.
For example, in the case of tobacco plants, obtaining the maximum yield of tobacco of good quality requires removal of the flower or reproductive growth from the vegetative growth of the plant. This process is known as topping. If the topping is delayed beyond the early flower stage yields are significantly decreased with each day of the delay. Once the plant is topped by cutting, axillary growth between each leaf and stalk begins. This growth is termed sucker growth. Sucker growth must be controlled to prevent decreases in both yield and quality which are similar to those that result from not topping the tobacco plant. This is particulary important when mechanical harvesting is employed for the crop.
For many years suckers were individually pulled from the plants by hand several times during the growing season at a considerable labor cost. More recently a variety of chemical agents have been employed for this purpose with varying degrees of success. As one of the early contact treatments, the application by hand of mineral oil to the top of the stalk to run down and kill the sucker initials by contact was an improvement over the manual operation. But it was not completely satisfactory in providing only partial and short term control while introducing stalk and leaf rotting problems.
Subsequently, liquids containing maleic hydrazide derivatives like those described in Schoene et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,805,926 were effectively sprayed as systemic agents for the control of suckers on much of the domestic tobacco crop. However these agents have their limitations, in that they should not be applied until tobacco flowers reach the late bloom stage in order to avoid retarding the growth of the leaves, and resulting in a loss in quantity of approximately 25 pounds less yield per acre for every day the topping of tobacco is delayed beyond the early flower stage. To minimize such losses, a number of dual treatments have been devised wherein a contact agent has been sprayed on the tobacco immediately after the topping in early bloom followed by treatment at an appropriate later date with a maleic hydrazide derivative for systemic action. The systemic agent acts within the plant system, and the timing of its application is critical because all parts of the plant are affected by it. On the other hand the contact agent affects only the exterior of the plant tending to inhibit new growth and to stimulate further growth of established leaves and thus produce larger and more desired leaves.
Among the known contact control agents are dimethyl dodecylamine accetate, esters of fatty acids, as exemplified by methyl caprates and mixtures of octanol and decanol dispersed in a suitable liquid carrier.
In contrast with the time consuming and higher labor costs of manual or mechanical topping, with the laborious topical application of a contact agent the compositions according to the present invention may be applied by spraying or other means of direct application as the sole mens of regulating plant growth.
Used for the control of suckers in plants such as tobacco are a series of long chain aliphatic ammonium salts which are disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,223,517. Although these compounds are related to the instant compounds, they are nonetheless quite dissimilar in structure and in their growth regulating ability. The compounds according to the present invention are amines rather than ammonium salts and the long chain aliphatic radicals therein are unsaturated cyclic radicls rather than saturated straight chain aliphatic radicals as disclosed by the patent. Consequently such dissimilarity in chemical structure would not make the instant ompounds obvious for their intended use. Furthermore, the use of the patent does not disclose the ammonium salts to control both primary and secondary growth as do the instant amines. The elimination of mechanical topping by the use of compositions according to the present invention is a decided advantage and distinction over the ammonium salts of the patent and the prior art in general.
Thus a new series of compounds have now been found which when incorporated into suitable compositions overcomes to a large extent the prior art shortcomings described above.